James Graham returns to his roots for Sherwood

Award-winning playwright and dramatist, James Graham, will be drawing on his experiences of growing up in post-industrial Nottinghamshire for his latest collaboration with House Productions, with whom he made Emmy and Bafta-nominated Brexit: The Uncivil War.

Inspired in part by real events, James has created a brand-new fictional crime drama, Sherwood, set in the Nottinghamshire mining village where he grew up. The contemporary six-part drama for BBC One sees two shocking and unexpected murders shatter an already fractured community leading to one of the largest manhunts in British history. Suspicion is rife and the tragic murders threaten to inflame historic divisions sparked during the Miners' Strike that tore families apart three decades before.

To solve the murders, police inspectors Ian St Clair, from the local constabulary, and Kevin Salisbury from the Met, must reunite and bury a rivalry that stretches back to 1984, in an attempt to heal wounds, and catch a killer. But can a community repair itself as more is discovered about those who live there, and whether they really are who they say they are?

James Graham says: "It means the world to have this opportunity to bring the voices of a community I grew up in to BBC One. So much is spoken about the divisions and difficulties in these 'Red Wall' towns, but they're not always understood. I feel so honoured to be able to tell a fictionalised story about a very real trauma, but with the humour and heart and resilience of the people I know and love there."